Frisco is one of the nation’s ringleaders for transportation innovation. Here are reasons why

The Frisco Economic Development Corporation sees Frisco as a large “innovation laboratory”. Industry leaders often boast of the city’s unconventional thinking and innovative approaches that are touted today as the Frisco Way.

Frisco Chief Innovation Officer Jason Cooley said no other city in North Texas has the same level of innovation as Frisco.

Where some cities integrate innovative solutions in just a few industries, Frisco leverages the capabilities across the city.

“It’s really just part of our culture. We want innovation and we welcome innovation, ”said Cooley. “In every aspect of Frisco we are looking at how we can do things in more innovative ways. It really is the basis for the balance of our city. “

While the city is certainly taking innovative approaches in all sectors, it is currently known as a pioneer in transportation innovation.

Leading transport innovation

For years, urban engineers have been using innovative technology and mobility solutions to prepare Frisco’s infrastructure for future growth and development.

The forward-thinking city has piloted many technologies to identify the best solutions for transportation and mobility, according to the Frisco EDC website.

It has been recognized as the second largest city in the country using connected vehicle technologies that enable the city’s traffic light network to exchange data with consumer vehicles through platforms such as Audi Connect, Traffic Technology Services and Trafficware from CUBIC. This improved technology automatically adjusts signal timing at intersections to optimize traffic flow.

City governments also use the Waze Connected Citizens Program to share travel information such as vehicle accidents, traffic hazards and road closures with drivers using the Waze Mobile App. In this way, they can adapt their travel routes as needed and improve individual vehicle mobility.

Leveraging the Waze app, which gets most of the data from drivers reporting real-time incidents, also allows the city to leverage the crowdsourced data to optimize the operation of transportation systems and minimize response times in the event of an emergency.

In addition to data exchange and connected vehicle technologies, Frisco was also a leader in tests of autonomous vehicles.

In July 2018, Frisco became the first city in Texas to test autonomous shuttles when the Frisco Transportation Management Association launched an eight-month pilot program of Drive.ai’s self-driving on-demand shuttles. The driverless shuttles successfully carried nearly 5,000 passengers on a fixed route between Hall Park, The Star and Frisco Station, according to the city’s website.

According to the EDC website, Frisco is also one of the first five cities in the US to pilot autonomous deliveries via Roxo from FedEx in 2019. The on-demand delivery robot was developed to automate the last mile of parcel delivery, which is often the most expensive route for transport companies.

Last year the city partnered with Starship Technologies, which deployed 35 personal delivery devices in West Frisco to test grocery and grocery deliveries.

During the 10-week pilot program, the robots delivered groceries across major roads and intersections, covering a total of 4,621 miles, an average of 59 miles per day.

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